CAT 2015 is finally over. This year CAT was a one-day exam, divided into two (2) slots. The first slot ended at 12.00pm, and the second slot ended at 5.30pm at various centres across India.
Aspirants found this year's CAT exam relatively easy than the exam of the previous years. However, where Quant section was a cakewalk, for many students DI and LR acted as a speed-breaker.
Most students confirmed that there were three sections. But the first two sections were divided into two parts. Verbal section had 24 questions in first part and 10 questions in second part. LRDI section had two parts with 16 questions in each part - total 32 questions. Quant section had 34 questions. Logical Reasoning was reported to be difficult. Verbal, DI and Quant were easy. Overall, the paper was easy. Non-MCQ questions were also easy.
Here's what the aspirants had to say:
Tanya Khanijow, an engineering student at DTU said "The paper was satisfactory. The Quant section was extremely easy. However, LR and DI were comparatively difficult. The non-MCQ section introduced this year was not at all difficult." This was her first CAT attempt.
Vipul Ved, a working professional tried his hand at CAT exam for the first time. According to him, "All-in-all, the paper was easy, but the DI and LR sections were not predictable and I found them a little difficult." On being asked about any glitches in the paper, he said, "There were no glitches as such in the exam. The systems were working fine."
Harshal Singh Bisht is pursuing his B.A. in Human Resource Management from Bhimrao Ambedkar College. "It was my first CAT attempt and I found the paper just fine. Quant section was a little complicated and difficult, but non-MCQs were not tough for me. I will also be appearing for XAT and MAT."
Abhinav is working with Simon India, Delhi and this is his third attempt in CAT. Comparing this year's exam with the exam of last two years, he said, "LR and DI are the deciding factor this year. This year's paper was fine - Quant section and MCQs were easy, while the verbal section was satisfactory." He also added, "The non-MCQ section introduced this year might be helpful for me."
Sonali Mishra appeared in the second slot of CAT 2015 exams. According to her, "The overall paper was not very difficult, but I faced some problem in solving the Quant section as it was little complicated. Also, LR and DI were tough to solve as the options provided were tricky." This was her first CAT attempt.
Shubhangi Sahu who is pursuing her engineering also appeared for CAT 2015 in the second slot. She said, "The DI and LR sections were hard to crack. The new exam pattern that consisted of non-MCQs did not prove to be beneficial for me. Both Quant and verbal sections were easy to solve."
Sheetal Sharma pursuing BBA also appeared in the second slot of CAT 2015. She said, "The paper was fine, but I found the Quant section a little difficult. Adding to the difficulty level was the non-MCQs, but if I compare the non-MCQs with Quant section, I found the former easy."
Attempting CAT for the second time, Shweta who is pursuing B.Tech from UPTU also gave the exam in the second slot. Talking about the question paper she said, "The paper was just fine. As expected, the Quant section was easy, however, the DI and LR sections were tough to handle."
As observed, the DI and LR sections were calculation intensive, due to which many candidates could not concentrate much on the Quant section, even though it was easy.
According to Mikin Shah, MBA expert and owner of Foresight School, "In RC section 20 questions were moderately tough. All 14 VA questions were non MCQs which was doable. Maths was almost like CMAT. I could attempt 25 questions out of 34. But the DI and LR parts were killer - quite difficult. And yes, the calculator came in handy. One DI set of 4 questions was quite easy. But if anyone missed that question in DI, scoring could be an issue."
Glitches
The following glitches were reported by various test takers:
- The computers were not accepting the required password. Therefore candidates were unable to log in on time.
- Few students faced issues in their system (PC) while attempting the test. One student's system switched off while some candidate's system got stuck. However, the invigilators were quite helpful.
- Another candidate complained that the mouse was not working.